Blogs

Website temporarily down due to spam

You may have noticed that it's been difficult to get access to this website the last couple of days. The website was down for several hours a day. As luck would have it, I was away on a mission to Tanzania, and unfortunately I couldn't get access myself because the spam filters thought I was a bad guy.

After exchanging with my ISP, it seemed to improve a bit and I thought things were back to normal. But they weren't, unfortunately. It was only after my return to Belgium that I discovered the real cause. The site was the victim of an orchestrated campaign to fill it with spam messages. Various different sources were trying to post heaps of 'interesting' messages about brand clothing, scantily clad women and unreliable links. Fortunately, all messages have to get my approval. Unfortunately, the site was very quickly running out of disk space. In the space of only a couple of days, tens of thousands of these spam messages were blocking the site more and more.

Fortunately, I was able to delete them all at once. However, if you posted a question during the last couple of days, I may have inadvertently deleted it so you may have to repost it.

I also had to increase security, which at the same time means that it's become a bit more difficult to post a comment. You will notice a so-called Captcha image, with a code that is only human readable (I hope...) and that you have to confirm before you can post your message. After that, I still have to approve your comment.

Anyway, the site has resumed normal service and I'm very sorry for any inconvenience that you may have experienced.

Logframer 1.1 Out Now!

Ok, I admit: it took me a wee bit longer than 'the end of summer' to roll out version 1.1, but that doesn't matter now because it's finally ready! And I just now you are all as excited as I am!

This new version of Logframer has a host of improvements, some small, some larger:

  • A bilingual interface, meaning that you can select between a French or an English user interface. Other languages will follow, with Spanish high on the agenda for a next version.
  • A powerful find and replace tool: as mentioned earlier on this blog this was a request of one of the users that I picked up. Now you can search your logframe and the various windows with detailed information for specific words and replace them if you want.
  • The recent files list that I mentioned here before. This thing really came in handy when I tested this new version.
  • More control over the lay-out of your logframe - choose the font and colour of the titles etc. As if the various font options and background colours were not enough, now you can really light up your logical framework like a Christmas tree smiley
  • Increased number of options for the scheme of your project logic column: I added schemes from various international donors and large NGOs, both in French and English

Apart from these new features, I also did a lot of work to improve the stability of the application. Sometimes, the undo/redo mechanism caused the whole application to come to a screeching halt. There were some stability issues with certain details windows too. I hope they are now all ironed out, but please inform me should you come across any more problems.

So enjoy Logframer 1.1!

Find and replace in Logframer 1.1

A couple of weeks ago, I got a comment from someone who was really pleased with Logframer, but who thought that one thing was missing: a search tool.

And because we aim to please:

The new Find dialog in Logframer 1.1

As you can see, Logframer 1.1 will both have a find and a find-and-replace function. You will have the option to search in the logical framework itself, or both in the logframe and any of the details windows.

1000+ downloads!

Logframer has reached a milestone, almost 3 months after the official launch: 1000 people have downloaded and installed (presumably) Logframer 1.0

Most downloads were made from this website, while Download.com and Softpedia were the most popular mirror sites. According to Google Analytics, Logframer is most popular with development actors in Kenia, Brazil, India, Cambodia and Uganda. And although I've got some feedback from people working for major development organisations, the large majority of the reactions come from people working 'in the field', mostly for smaller and local organisations, which is precisely what I've hoped for. Not that the big ones aren't welcome to use Logframer of course.

So far, the reactions have been overwelmingly positive. I'm also glad that the articles on the website are helpful to those looking for information about the logical framework and the different logframe approaches. Some people make suggestions for improvement of the software, which I try to incorporate in the next version that is due to be released soon. The main complaint is that there is no Apple Macintosh version. As someone who's been fighting injustice for all of my professional carreer, it saddens me that there are still people who are tricked into buying inferior hardware at ridiculoulsy high prices. Mac users have my deepest sympathies. Someone should create a project (in Logframer) to help those poor people. cheeky

All joking asides, the numbers but especially the feedback from all the users have been very motivating and a very welcome treat after all those years of developping on my own in my spare time. I hope that many more people will discover Logframer during the months and years to come.

 

Traduction du site web en français

Depuis quelque temps, la traduction du site web en français a commencé. C'est un travail de longue haleine, car il y a beaucoup d'articles à traduire! En vue de la publication de la nouvelle version de Logframer dans quelque semaines, j'ai commencé par les pages d'aide de Logframer. Quand vous cliquez sur un lien du menu principal, ne soyez pas étonné(e) que vous tombez sur une page en anglais. Cela viendra, petit à petit.

Vous pouvez changez la langue de l'interfaçe par le sélecteur a gauche du page. En plus, il y a un lien 'français' en-dessous des pages bilingues.

Vous verrez sans doute qu'actuellement la traduction est faite par quelqu'un qui n'a pas le français comme sa langue maternelle. Donc si vous tombez sur des gaffes, n'hésitez surtout pas de m'envoyer des corrections. Si jamais il y a des volontaires pour m'assister à la traduction, votre assistance sera vivement appréciée.

Bug: Logframer crashes

Several users have reported that Logframer crashes from time to time. This problem was retraced to a number of errors in the Undo/Redo function (which is quite complex). So I've decided to have a complete overhaul of the Undo/Redo function to get out the bugs, but also to simplify the code.

The overhaul includes a lot of detailed testing. It seems that the crashes mainly occur when undoing/redoing changes in the indicator details window. So until the new version of Logframer is publicised, you may want to be careful there and save your changes frequently.

Website - Where is my comment?

Due to an overactive spam filter, a number of recent comments have been put in quarantine. Unfortunately, it took me a while to realise this was happening. So if you've posted a comment recently, you may wonder where it has gone.All comments that ended up in the fridge by accident (and that weren't spam) are now published, and at the same time I've also answered the questions that some of you posted. All the spam messages, which are unfortunately a majority, were shoveled right into the toxic waste container.I promise it won't happen again, and that I will respond quicker to your questions (in my defence: I've also been on holiday and I didn't check the site for about two weeks).

Recent files list

The upcoming version of Logframer will continue a modest but practical improvement: a 'recent files' list. Logframer 1.1 will list the most recent logframe documents that you've opened. Up to six documents can be included in the list (you can alter the number of files in the settings to suit your needs).

The recent files list in Logframer 1.1

It's one small step for man, and totally irrelevant for mankind. But practical none the less.

Bug: Opening a logframer document by double clicking on its icon

When you try to open a logframer document by double clicking on its icon, like you would with a Word document for instance, the Logframer application starts up. However, once the program is running, it doesn't open the document. You have to manually open the document via the File menu or by using the Open logframe button.

This bug has been fixed in the upcoming version 1.1 of Logframer, which is expected to be released by the end of the summer.

Logframer in other languages

One question that pops up regularly in our mailbox, is whether Logframer is available in French, Spanish, Croatian, Serbian, etc. At the moment, there is only an English version of Logframer. But do not dispair, because I'm hard at work to turn Logframer into a veritable polyglot.

At the moment, Logframer is learning French. However, there's more to it than just translating the interface. I'm also making a lot of changes under the bonnet, so that different languages can be added in the future with ease. When I say 'with ease', I mean that no drastic changes need to be made to the code. But translating Logframer's interface is a lot of work, because of the many options.

Some of you have kindly offered to help me with translation, and frankly I will need your help in the future. Not just because I only speak so many languages, but also because of the workload. But getting more people involved means I have to set up a system that allows us to collaborate in an easy way too.

Anyway, I will probably launch a call for assistance in a couple of weeks time. At first I will need people willing to verify the French version. Then later I would like to create a Spanish version. And then we'll see how it goes and which other languages are in demand.

Pages